Maker Lab Kids

10/15/2026

They're alive!!

Our bots came to life in today's after school "Intro to Robotics" at Compass Prep

10/15/2026

10/05/2026

Bot builds are about halfway complete after our first after school session. This week we'll finish the basic build and start evaluating and calibrating movement.

10/01/2026

After school robotics at Compass Prep starts today -- we're so excited!!!

09/29/2026

Monday we spent the morning with some of the most delightful adults and students! Holly Springs Academy was the grand prize winner of our rockets competition at the Georgia Child Care Association Innovation Expo a few weeks back. And on Monday we were able to provide that prize of Compressed Air Rockets for their pre-K kiddos. It was the perfect morning -- spectacular weather, amazing students, and staff that was instantly warm & welcoming. 🚀 🩷 🩷 🩷

09/16/2026

We had such a fun time at the Innovation Expo hosted by Georgia Child Care Association!! Quincy L. Acklen ran around like a loon outside with the Rocket Catching Challenge, and Jennifer Acklen was inside with Human Hovercraft Bowling!

Congratulations to Emily at Holly Springs Academy, the grand prize winner of our rocket challenge. We look forward to bringing Maker Lab Kids to your school!! And congrats to our runner-up, Better Beans!

And last but not least, HUGE thanks to our former JROTC robotics family for coming out and supporting us on Saturday 🩷 🩷 🩷

09/10/2026

T minus 2 days until the Georgia Child Care Association's Innovation Expo at Chatt Tech! We're planning for 2 different activities since there's rain in the forecast...

Plan A (outside): Competitive rocket races. Teams race to see how many rockets they can launch *and catch* with a trashcan in 1 minute. (Hard hat and face shield provided)

Plan B (inside): Vortex ball. Teams use our vortex cannons to push a balloon down the hall and into the goal. Most balloons in the goal wins. (Note: when testing this inside the house, using the cat as a target will result in a *very* rapid departure and tufts of fur floating in the air.)

Plan B+ (inside): Quincy L. Acklen is convinced we'll somehow have enough time and capacity to also have hovercraft bowling... Participants on our hovercrafts are launched by their team members toward giant pink flamingo inflatable bowling pins.

Looking forward to sharing pics from this Saturday's fun!!

08/28/2026

UPDATE: the event finished early - we're already packing up. Apologies to those who were planning to join us at 4pm. The time with the students was *amazing*, but the minute the buses loaded, the place cleared out.

TODAY IS THE DAY! Join us at the Woodstock High School football field this afternoon for launching fun!

STEMstock is a fundraiser for the WHS STEM classes - $5 at the gate to get in, and vendors / activities on the football field. WHS students get in first, then it opens to the public from 4-5pm Friday, 8/28.

If you've been thinking about checking us out, this is an easy opportunity, while providing a small contribution toward a good cause. We'll have compressed air rockets (with multiple launchers) and a new dodgeball throwing trebuchet!

08/27/2026

Our friends at Woodstock High School PTSA still have availability for companies to have a booth at their STEMSTOCK celebration tomorrow! We'll be there with compressed air rockets, and hopefully a new trebuchet for launching dodge balls!

08/25/2026

New after school robotics program!

One of our local schools reached out to us & said their students had expressed interest in an after school Intro to Robotics program... could we help out? So we've been busy working through the materials and week-by-week details to create a spectacular after school robotics option.

Today we visited the school to share the bot that the students will make - and the students really enjoyed playing with it! We had it in light-following mode and handed the kids a flashlight... and it followed the kids around the room like a puppy :)